Empire Life Insight for June 17, 2022

INSURANCE NEWS

Dividend Scale Announcement for Empire Life Participating Plans

Empire Life is pleased to announce that the dividend scale, including the interest rate of 6.0% for our PAR products is being maintained for the period of June 1, 2022 – June 30, 2023.

As always, our focus is on delivering long-term performance and stability to our participating policyholders. Our 10-year average investment return of 6.53% (as of March 31, 2022) is an attestation to this persistent investment philosophy and the strength of our investment management team who manages Empire’s participating account.

Better Term at Better Rates

Empire Life’s overall competitive positioning in key target ages of 25-50 ranks the Solution term products #1 and #2 in the marketplace against 20 comparable products.¹

Empire Life achieves top 3 rankings for 100% of age, premium bandings and gender scenarios! Our average market price ranking is #2.¹

¹Based on quotes in the marketplace as of May 31, 2022 against 20 comparable products for premium bandings and gender scenarios.

Please join us for our next TRIIPSS webinar:
Estate Planning in the Digital Age: Tips, Traps, and Strategies

In today’s digital era, most of us and our clients own several forms of digital assets including social media accounts, digital music, books and photographs. These assets and others can have significant financial and/or sentimental value. How should they be dealt with on death or incapacity? This presentation will both educate and position advisors to provide relevant and impactful advice to their clients for estate planning in the digital era

CE credits: Up to 1 credit.
To receive their CE credit, attendees of this event will be required to pass the quiz that will appear after the webinar has been viewed.

Can Anyone Afford to Lose Half Their Retirement Nest Egg?

Adding CI Protect to a client's life insurance application can provide financial protection for their retirement savings against one of the four covered conditions for as little as $5 per month.

Planned giving using life insurance

Leaving a legacy to benefit a favourite cause continues to be a topic of interest to aging individuals. A number of charities and charitable foundations view endowments as an important aspect of fundraising and long-term planning.

For many years, life insurance has been used as a cost-effective way to leave a legacy for the benefit of a charity. This isn’t a strategy just for the rich. A donor of modest means can leave a significant final bequest for comparatively little.

Easily make beneficiary changes online through My Advisor Dashboard

Whether it's an insurance or Investment policy, you can easily make beneficiary changes online at any time to avoid call wait times and manual signatures.

Simply log in to My Advisor Dashboard, click on forms & applications in the top navigation and then e-signature forms and select the D-0017 Beneficiary designation form. Follow the steps and submit. Simple, fast and easy.

INVESTMENTS NEWS

Off the cuff with Doug Couper
Downside protection in an uncertain environment

Interest rates have increased significantly year-to-date, and we expect them to remain elevated for the foreseeable future. There are two implications for this, the first being that a significant portion of the Canadian equities market, in particular the Canadian banks and the Canadian life insurance companies benefit from a rising rate environment. The second implication is that we've seen a material rotation away from growth stocks triggered by rising interest rates, and Canada is very much under indexed to growth stocks, relative to global markets and U.S. equity markets in particular.

In this Off the Cuff video, Doug Cooper discusses recent market events, their impact on Canadian equities, and how the Empire Life Asset Allocation Fund is positioned.

Do Canadian bank stocks still offer value?
Canadian Equities: An Update on Canadian Banks

Through various economic and credit cycles and over the longer term, Canadian banks have consistently outperformed the S&P/TSX Composite Index. However, recent global uncertainty has had an impact on their performance.

Learn why Doug Cooper, Portfolio Manager, Canadian Equities believes Canadian banks still offer value and a solid core for investors' portfolios.

Look to our shining stars

Deliver stellar results to your clients with our disciplined, long-term investment management approach that focuses on quality and downside protection.

Now available on demand:
The Hybrid Advisor: Marrying technology with a human touch

Customers’ needs and expectations continue to be major drivers of change. Are they best met by technology or humans? Or a mix of both? Hybrid approaches are rapidly gaining traction and market share. Success will be measured by the customer’s experience in receiving value from their perspective. The hybrid advisor, marrying technology with a human touch, clearly has advantages and benefits for all parties: clients, companies and advisors.

This session covers a number of approaches and business practices dealing with advisor offerings aimed at providing value to the customer. It will include an update on industry trends and fact-backed information on some of the forces impacting change and direction in the financial advisory business.

CE credit offer available until August 31, 2022.
A quiz will appear after the webinar has been viewed.

Pay-out Annuity Confirmation Letters

We are currently reviewing our pay-out annuity policies. Confirmation letters will be mailed this week to our annuity policyholders. If your clients are currently receiving payments in the mail by cheque, we encourage them to consider our safe and convenient direct deposit option. Their payments will be deposited directly into their Canadian bank account, so they won't need to worry about issues such as cheque holds or postal interruptions. To switch to direct deposit, they simply need to include a void cheque when they return the bottom portion of the letter. Alternatively, they can scan or provide a picture of the signed bottom portion of this letter via email and send to investment@empire.ca.

Please encourage your customers to return the confirmation by October 31, 2022 in order to continue receiving their annuity payments.

CORPORATE NEWS

Empire Life announces further investment in independent advice channel

As consolidation continues to occur across our industry, companies are looking to maintain their leadership positions. We firmly believe there is a role we can play in supporting strong independent financial services firms in this time of change and that we can best support independent advisors by helping to make sure that they have choices when deciding which MGA or firm they want to work with.

EXOS, and its subsidiaries under the Monarch Wealth brand, are recognized for their growth and technology leadership in the industry. As smart investment managers, we see this as a solid investment opportunity that allows us to grow our AUM and AUA business, support dual-licensed advisors and further demonstrates Empire Life's commitment to ensuring Canadians continue to have access to independent financial advice.